New Yorkers Try Each Other’s Chopped Cheese

Ready to feast? (Every Food Swap EVER) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2EHISY6fRs&list=PL5UlFtnrR4c6DdAr-H-9sG51qDgLxA6P9
00:00 New Yorkers Try Intro
00:37 Bodega Specialty
02:26 Anastasia’s Chopped Cheese
02:51 Chopped Cheese #1 Taste Test
05:14 Thunny’s Chopped Cheese
06:05 Chopped Cheese #2 Taste Test
07:34 Olu’s Chopped Cheese
08:06 Chopped Cheese #3 Taste Test
10:31 Guest Judge – Jahmai Tries
11:17 Jahmai Tries Anastasia’s Chopped Cheese
12:01 Jahmai Tries Thunny’s Chopped Cheese
13:12 Jahmai Tries Olu’s Chopped Cheese
14:06 And the winner is…
14:46 Winning Chopped Cheese Recipe Here!

YERRRRR! 🗽🥪 The chopped cheese is a true New York City classic, but every New Yorker swears their spot makes it the best. Real New Yorkers go head-to-head trying each other’s original chopped cheese sandwiches to see whose sandwich gives that bodega feel.

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CREDITS
Supervising Producer: Raven Carter
Lead Producer: Kayline Anantua
Director: Kayline Anantua
Director of Production Operations: Leah Zeis
Head of Physical Production: Devon Joralmon
Line Producer: Ramiro Leal
Production Manager: Dashay Smith-Garcia
Production Coordinator: Darren Portilla
Director of Photography: Yuki Soga
Sound Mixer: Derrick Cheung
Camera Operator: Gabriel Adalla
Editor: Ayush Sharma
Editor: Samadrita Ghosh
Manager of Post Production Raquel Lucero
Manager of Post Production Shoumyoroop Ghoshal
Post Production Supervisor Jill Chipley
Post Production Supervisor Ragini Sharma
Post Production Coordinator Trey Clough
Post Production Coordinator Tanaya Gore
Post Production Coordinator Sanaya Thadani
Post Production Coordinator Magali Perez
Art Director – Graphic Design Sakshi Parmar
Art Director – Graphic Design Urvashi Mitro
Thumbnail Design Vignesh Selvam

[Music] It’s a little dry to me. Y’all playing games, man. Messing with my emotions, Smokey. They probably not even from New York. Somebody brought a bag of Hogies and pulled one out. That’s what this is. Hey y’all, what’s up? My name is Anastasia and uh I’m from Queens, New York. Hey, what’s good? This is Olu and Namdi. Born and raised in Bedstey, Brooklyn. Yo, what’s up? It’s Stunny Brown from Brownsville, Brooklyn. And you know, we here today trying each other’s chop cheese. I’m usually like a honey turkey girl or bacon, egg, and cheese. So chopped cheeses wasn’t my first go-to. Chopped cheese is not really anything that you know like the origin of. It’s just if you from New York, Brooklyn, Harlem, Bronx, wherever. It’s just something that’s like been around. Man, the origins of a chopped cheese is like the origins of hip-hop. I’m from Brooklyn. I first heard of a chop cheese in Brooklyn. As far as I’m concerned, it started in Brooklyn. I know that it originated from Harlem. That’s what I was told. So, I’mma stick by that. I I believe it. So, what’s up, Harlem? It’s just one of those things right now just seems to be popping. Chopped cheese is like macaroni and cheese. Everybody makes it, but everybody don’t make it good. It’s a bodega deli specialty because it’s quick and easy. I understand why people love chopped cheeses. Like, it gets to the point. I’m hungry. Give me some meat. Give me some bread. And we out. Hamburger meat chopped up with American cheese. Cheese obviously. Meat. Yeah. Bread. Put the onions. Put the peppers. Serve with lettuce and tomato. I don’t really do the tomato and lettuce thing cuz it makes the bread soggy and I’m not with that. The chopped cheese is not the same as a burger. As I just mentioned, like I’ve seen a burger chopped. What is that, my friend? I might as well just crumble up the burger with my hand. Burger is completely different. We not doing that. Don’t do that. We should never go in the chopped cheese. Yeah. For me, I never put like sweet peppers or like bacon, you know. No mustard. It’s not a burger. There’s something called souse meat. You know what that is? Souse meat is when you take all parts of the pig, dice it, slice it, chop it, and let it congeal into almost a gelatinous form. Souse meat. That should never go on a chop cheese. Take my word for it. Don’t try it. [Music] Oh yes. Period. Like I am Haitian American. So you know I seasoned this from yesterday. So being that means it got flavor. That’s flavor and cradle. So I got the Italian bread. I have the meat minced with the onions and the green peppers. The sauce is like ketchup and mayo sauce. Like I said, that thing is good, honey. Period. [Music] I don’t smell anything. This look like the chopped cheese that you prepared for the picture in the store. It’s a little too neat. Yeah, it smells like a salad. It feels like a hot dog. It’s like not even cut in half. I know it’s small. And we grow up knowing what to do when we see authentic foods. This ain’t It’s not giving me the feeling. You got to have like some extra meat paws or like in the front so you could get like that first bite. Otherwise, I’m have to like eat it like it’s crazy. Nobody want wilted soggy lettuce on the joint. But again, like I said, this is looking like they had the meat in one bag, the bread in another bag, put it together in the back room. Thousand Island dressing on on it. But okay, we going to try. [Music] I’mma show you how nasty this is by eating it. Oh my god, that thing is good. Honey, are you kidding me? This is horrible. I’m sorry. You don’t put American cheese all in the macaroni and cheese. You got to mix it up. The meat, there’s no seasoning outside that I could taste outside of salt. You know, I seasoned this from yesterday. And this bread needs some love. This came from a novice who thought they knew what the chopped cheese was. They probably not even from New York. Somebody brought a bag of hogies and pulled one out. That’s what this is. Yeah, I can’t. Y’all could y’all could have Next off, these thick sliced tomatoes. Who asked for that, You supposed to put this on the side. This is a snookie chopped cheese right here. This is wild. The lettuce. That’s a no no to begin with on hot meat. And the sauce, it might as well not have been there cuz I don’t know what it was. 1 to 10. This is like a 1.1. We’re going to go with two just cuz you put in the effort. I wouldn’t give this to some anybody on the street. I’d rather give them cash to go the corner store. I would not give them this. No. [Music] We got the freshest of the buns. Of course, I threw a little bit of barbecue sauce in there, a little bit of jerk seasoning. I’m a kind of the seasoning and spices and all the herbs in the cabinets. The energy is electrifying. Because I’m a grill master, you might have been questioning the the outfit. My good old mom made me this apron with her bare hands. I threw a little bit of barbecue sauce in there, a little bit of jerk seasoning. Been doing this since I was a kid. Didn’t know what I was doing when I started, but we got an idea what to do with them now. Bada bing, bada boom. We talking about the reason why I’m going to win is because simply a lot of people, they think inside the box. They stay in here. I’m only in here because I was instructed to be in here. I had to fight myself from standing up three or four times already. [Music] It looks good. It looks It looks like a typical chopped cheese. You go to your O, you be like, “Yo, I need a chop cheese.” This is what they going to give you low key. So, I mean, it looks like a a Philly cheese steak. I don’t see any lettuce, tomato. I mean, yeah, they did the Italian bread like me. It’s not a roll, so I like that. Never in my life have I ever eaten a sandwich and like that was cut in half. I’m not super moved, but it smells good. [Music] Y’all playing games, man. Messing with my emotion, Smokey. It has a little tanginess thing going on that I’m not sure of. We kept it traditional. It look like steakum. It tastes like steakum. Don’t taste the sauce. It’s a little dry to me. This is dry as hell. Like it’s like eating a Popeye’s biscuit with like no soft drink. We kept it traditional. The flavor is there. They definitely tried. Yeah, I need something to drink. I mean like they’re like torture. Need some water. Oh, my lifeline. I would not order this at my bodega. Yeah, I’m good. No bueno. No. I would pay $5 for this. No more. No more. All right. So, on a scale of 1 to 10, Hold up. I’m going to give you a five cuz that’s how much I’d pay for it. This is like a 1.05. I definitely don’t think it’s better than mine. I would consider this to be chopped. Like, this is just not it at all. [Music] my chopped cheese. Um, I’m a little bougie. Fake bougie though. I use not Japanese Wagu beef cuz it’s not in the budget. But I use American Wagu beef patties. And then I use this sesame hero bread. So to go with the chopped cheese, I made some homemade potato chips seasoned with a little salt, pepper, rosemary. And with that, I made my black cherry blueberry iced tea. I win today cuz I am an Aquarius. Do everything with intention. My bowl is fire. [Music] This looks more like a chopped cheese than the last one. Definitely. This is a fancy person. They got the chips on the side. Like they showed out bread. Yeah. I see the caramelized onions. It looks like it’s toasted to perfection. I will say that. Is that rosemary oregano? If I could take my eyes off of these burnt chips. No, we ain’t trying that. What? Look at that. This would have went back to the kitchen. Gar, they seasoned them well. It’s a little sticky. 10,000 sesame seeds. Nah, that’s not how the ox do it. This ain’t the bread of choice. Again, with the thick sliced tomato things like the lettuce and the tomatoes, it just makes the bread soggy. Should I have wanted my chopped cheese to rest and breathe? This bread is soggy now. See what I’m saying? This one’s giving more chopped cheese. You got some more right flavors happening in there. The flavors I could appreciate in terms of the ingredients in the sandwich. The bread. Mm- It’s one of the things I don’t like about beef patties and thousand seed sesame bun. They popping off all over the place, man. This one is $12. This wouldn’t be on the dollar menu cuz they got to get their money back off that thousand seed sesame bun. You went to Long Island to get this. Not impressive cuz I seen it done better. But the dipping sauce as opposed to the chips. Like you could have put a little, you know, so we could, you know, I feel like I have some competition with this. But with the plating, no. That’s a fail. That burnt chip, that ain’t it. This tastes like Kool-Aid. It tastes all right. I can’t give no true opinion though cuz at the end of the day, I don’t drink high fructose corn syrup. I prefer my juices 100% juice. I wouldn’t do a Kool-Aid drink with a chopped cheese. I would do like a Arizona or you know like a Coke. The other plate was picture perfect. You could take a picture of that and somebody might order it. This they going to be like, “Nah, dude. Let me get the chopped cheese. Leave the chips.” One to 10. I’m going to give it a 6 and 1/2. I’m going to say that it’s worth seven. [Music] What’s up everybody? I’m here Jamaa from Harlem, 143rd Lennox to be exact, and I’m going to be eating some chopped cheeses today. I am born and raised in New York, born in the Bronx first, but I grew up in Harlem all my life. The chopped cheese thing was for the convenience of expenses. You ask for a real cheeseburger in a deli back in the early 2000s in the late ‘9s, it was $10. But if you get a chopped cheese, that made the price go to five. And how I like my chopped cheese personally, number one, you got to season your meat. Pardon the left. A lot of people just think throwing like beef on the grill or the flatb, whatever you want to use, and calling it a day is making the chopped cheese what it is. You still got to season that. Number two, I like my cheese melted on my actual burger. And last but not least, your bread. If you’re using a sesame roll or bun or a hogy or whatever, you’re out of here. You’re done. This clip. I’m not a huge fan of tomatoes. I’m going to be honest with you. And then to add, we using iceberg lettuce. What’s up with that? No ketchup, no mayo, just Oh, hold on. We got a little jalapeno on the spot. My problem is right now though, this bread is just just bread. Like not toasted. Presentation wise, I’m not a fan of an open chopped cheese. Honestly, if we’re doing this, obviously, scoop the bread in, smush it together, and I going to actually wrap it up, cut it in half, and you should be good. This a really cheese steak in my mind. We have no ketchup, no mayo, no nothing. Number two is just cheese and beef. And number three, I don’t like tomatoes on my chopped cheese. No sauce. And it really does taste like a Philly cheese steak. So, whoever made this, with all respect, I’m giving you a three. Yeah, this ain’t it. Sorry. It’s not different. It’s actually something I’m used to seeing. First things first, like I said before, I don’t like sesame, and we don’t have that here. I mentioned my order. I like mine without the lettuce, without the tomato. This person definitely didn’t put that in here. So, that’s a 10 out of 10 from me. Now, I don’t see any semblance of any ketchup, any mayo, any type of sauce. So, I don’t know what’s in here. The chop texture of it, that’s a good chop texture. Looks like they really going crazy. Smells good though. I’m disappointed. I’m sad. Damn, bro. No ketchup, no mayo, no nothing. Steaming like Miss Melbour’s cornbread in Harlem, too. But no sauce, bro. Nah, you got all the good elements. You got the bread, right? This is a good like dice up right here. But no sauce plus this bread. You got a dry sandwich and it’s a waste of time. I wanted to be fair, but yeah, this a 4.5. You lost points cuz of the sauce. Or if I caught somebody ordering a chopped cheese and asking for no condiments, I think you need to go to jail. It’s this right here. No sauce, man. A gourmet chopped cheese is crazy. First things first, I said it already. I’m going to say it again. The sesame seed is a no no for me, bro. The ketchup is there. Let’s get to seven cuz it tastes this bread though. We do not need this bread. That sesame that texture is unnecessary. Everything should be coming out the middle of the sandwich. Point blank period. The meat is actually seasoned properly. So, I’m going to give it that. Let’s give it downtown Brooklyn. And y’all know why I’m saying this. Cuz what we doing with the sesame bun? Like what’s up with that? Like why? Let’s not say sweet tea cuz heck no. If it is sweet tea, they need to go down south. That’s not it. If it’s iced tea is really giving a Kool-Aid taste to it. This right here again, I’m going just say seven. It’s a crystal light taste to it. I’m so sorry. Whoever made this, no, it doesn’t add anything. It’s just a dub. I’m sorry. [Music] I thank my family. Uh, they’ve been a big support even through my submission and through all of this. My cousin, my sister and Elijah. Shout out to my niece Tony on her way to Temple University. Bang bang. This had to be a setup, man. Whoever’s doing the judging got to be from the Bronx. Sometimes life will humble you and you come correct the next time. But what is not a loss is my cooking. Like either way, it’s going to slap. Shout out to Brooklyn cuz this is Brooklyn chop cheese if you must know. Thank you. [Music]